However, the complaint was filed a week ago and there's no sign yet of legal action in Hong Kong.

"If Hong Kong doesn’t act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong’s commitment to the rule of law," a senior U.S. official who asked not to be named said Saturday.

Snowden has professed to have leaked information about an NSA surveillance program.

"Extradition can, of course, be a lengthy legal process," said a senior U.S. law-enforcement official, who also asked not be identified. "But we are confident, based on the strong history of law enforcement cooperation between Hong Kong and the U.S., that at the end of that process, Hong Kong will extradite Mr. Snowden."

The extradition request was first confirmed in an interview CBS's Mark Knoller broadcast Saturday with outgoing National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.

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"As long as walls exist in our hearts to separate us from those who don’t look like us or think like us or worship as we do, then we are going to have to work harder together to bring those walls of division down."